Case  Study  –  Banning  Burkas:  Freedom  or  Discrimination?  -­‐  Page  1  of  2  

Banning  Burkas:  Freedom  or  Discrimination?    In  September  2010,  the  French  Parliament  passed  a  bill  prohibiting  people  from  concealing  their  faces  in  public  areas.  While  this  law  applied  to  all  citizens  and  all  forms  of  face  covering,  it  became  known  as  France’s  “burka  bill”  because  the  rhetoric  surrounding  the  bill  targeted  Muslim  women  who  wore  burkas—religious  garments  covering  the  face  and  body—in  public.      French  lawmakers  argued  that  the  law  was  important  for  the  separation  of  church  and  state  and  for  the  emancipation  of  women.  Similar  to  the  2004  bill  that  outlawed  the  use  of  conspicuous  religious  symbols  in  public  schools,  including  Muslim  headscarves  and  Christian  crosses,  this  law  sought  to  further  remove  religious  expression  and  iconography  from  public  spaces  in  France.  Some  legislators  argued  that  the  burka  was  a  harmful  symbol  of  gender  inequality  that  forced  women  to  assume  a  subservient  status  to  men  in  public.  According  to  them,  the  law  freed  women  from  a  discriminatory,  patriarchal  subculture.          However,  some  in  the  French  Muslim  community  saw  the  bill  as  an  infringement  of  religious  freedom  and  an  act  of  cultural  imperialism.  They  argued  that  French  legislators  were  imposing  their  idea  of  gender  equality  onto  their  culture.  Many  of  them,  including  some  women,  argued  that  wearing  burkas  actually  emancipated  women  from  the  physical  objectification  so  common  in  Western  culture.  A  number  of  women  protested  the  bill  by  dressing  in  burkas  and  going  to  the  offices  of  lawmakers  who  supported  the  legislation.  Other  reports  from  individual  women  suggested  that  the  law  created  a  more  hostile  atmosphere  for  Islamic  women  in  France.  One  of  these  women  critiqued  the  bill,  stating,  “My  quality  of  life  has  seriously  deteriorated  since  the  ban…the  politicians  claimed  they  were  liberating  us;  what  they've  done  is  to  exclude  us  from  the  social  sphere.”    The  law  was  challenged  in  2014  and  taken  to  the  European  Court  of  Human  Rights.  The  court  upheld  the  legality  of  the  law.          Discussion  Questions:  

 1. Lawmakers  might  argue  that  they  were  creating  a  more  pluralistic  society  by  banning  all  

forms  of  religious  expression  in  public  places,  whereas  detractors  might  argue  that  the  ban  does  just  the  opposite.  Which  side  do  you  agree  with,  and  why?  

 2. Should  all  religious  practices  be  tolerated  in  a  free  society?  Are  there  limits  to  what  you  

think  should  be  allowed?  Explain  your  reasoning.    

 

Case  Study  –  Banning  Burkas:  Freedom  or  Discrimination?  -­‐  Page  2  of  2  

3. Do  you  think  your  home  country  should  implement  a  ban  on  face  coverings  in  public?  Why  or  why  not?  

 4. Should  religious  garments  and  iconography  from  all  faith  traditions  be  banned  in  public  

schools  as  occurred  in  France  in  2004?  Why  or  why  not?    

5. According  to  some  accounts,  the  law  inspired  instances  of  people  acting  violently  against  women  who  continued  to  wear  burkas.  Do  the  principles  of  separation  of  church  and  state  and  the  emancipation  of  women  outweigh  these  consequences?  Defend  your  position.  

   Resources:    France’s  burqa  ban:  women  are  ‘effectively  under  house  arrest’  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/19/battle-­‐for-­‐the-­‐burqa    France’s  burka  bill  -­‐  background  to  a  bitter  debate  http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20100526-­‐sarkozy-­‐and-­‐burka    France’s  burka  ban  is  a  victory  for  tolerance  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8444177/BurkaFranceNational-­‐FrontMarine-­‐Le-­‐PenMuslimFadela-­‐AmaraAndre-­‐Gerinhijab.html    French  Senate  votes  to  ban  Islamic  full  veil  in  public  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-­‐europe-­‐11305033    Pourquoi  No  Burqa?  https://www.sandala.org/blog/pourquoi-­‐no-­‐burqa      Author:    Andrew  Carlson,  Ph.D.,  M.F.A.  Department  of  Theatre  &  Dance  College  of  Fine  Arts  The  University  of  Texas  at  Austin